October 2012

Holiday Inspiration

We have now entered the holiday season. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's are right around the corner. Since I was a little girl, they have always been my favorite holidays. I become a kid again and want to experience all the magic I remember from my childhood. Now that I have discovered Roger's Gardens in Corona del Mar, it is hard to imagine not going there every year to gather seasonal inspiration. This is simply the best nursery I have ever been to. Located in Orange County, about an hour south of Los Angeles, it is huge and has an incredible selection of plant material, garden furniture and ornaments. It also has a large boutique filled with many things you would want for your house, including linens, dishes, candles, wrapping paper, interior design books, and beautiful accessories for the home If you get on their mailing list, you can receive news about all their seasonal happenings -- they host fabulous classes on flower arranging. When some friends told me that the fall and winter holiday displays had opened at Roger's Gardens, we decided to make the hour drive and take a look. What an enchanting wonderland we discovered. It is a great place to go to gather ideas and inspiration for the upcoming holidays. And it will bring out the child in you as you wander through this magical fantasy land.

Naturally there are pumpkins galore

But there are so many other autumnal beauties, like these deep purple and green hydrangeas

Every kind of fall arrangement is wrapped up in ribbons and ready to give to someone as a gift

We all took a picture of this one because, as we all agreed, even we could do it

These berries are so pretty in fall arrangements

Everywhere we looked were the ingredients to make gorgeous floral arrangements

These succulents were in interesting containers

One room is devoted to bird houses

And then for the kid in all of us, there were so many fun displays to look at

Here is a wall covered in giant watches, clocks and gears

We were mesmerized by the electric train running through a forest of miniature Christmas trees

Roger's Gardens always carries vintage holiday toys and decorations

These collectibles were so great looking. They are made by Primitive Twigs out of New York and are unique one-of-a-kind vintage metal dolls.

More vintage Halloween decorations

Of course we had to see the Christmas displays. This room was dominated by a giant house of cards.

Here are some of the goodies on the shelves, providing lots of ideas for holiday parties

A close-up of one of their Christmas trees decorated with a card theme

It was a great day filled with inspiring sights and ideas. Holiday season has truly arrived. Are you ready?

Happy Halloween!

Quiet Pleasures

"Mrs. Bartle Grant" by Vanessa Bell, 1934, via here

What do you do when the days grow shorter, the weather gets cooler and and we are spending more time inside? Do you have projects and hobbies that you like to do during fall and winter, soothing and peaceful activities such as needlepoint, knitting, or embroidery? And have you noticed what a calming effect these crafts produce? Just look at the expression on Mrs. Bartle Grant's face in the painting above. She was the mother of the Bloomsbury artist Duncan Grant and stitched all of the tapestries that he designed.

I have recently taken up needlepoint and am working on a big canvas that I bought in England two years ago. The finished pillow will be a large one (huge!) and of course I bought two of them, thinking they were smaller and would make a great matched set. What was I thinking! This project will take me a long time to finish and so I plan to put it away occasionally and work on a smaller projects that I am more likely to finish in a shorter amount of time. But I love doing it because no matter how frayed my nerves are or how stressful my day is, nothing calms me down and brings me back down to earth more quickly than working on my needlepoint project.

Here is the needlepoint kit I bought in England. It is called The Shell Cushion and is a reproduction of a canvas designed by Vanessa Bell.

As you can see, I have made a little progress and am now ready to get back to work on this

This is the original pillow in the garden room at Charleston Farmhouse

In the meantime, I am also looking for a smaller project and would love to take a knitting class
Photo via here

I dream of cozy evenings knitting or doing needlepoint by the fireplace
Photo via here

I love this needlepoint canvas from Elizabeth Bradley

Some of my inspiration for working on crafts comes from my daughter Heather who is a talented knitter. This blanket is one of her projects. She has loved doing crafts since she was a little girl. When she was 10 years old she made jewelry and formed "The Jewelry Club" with her girlfriends.

This photo was her inspiration for the blanket

She made this amazing scarf
via here

She has also taken up weaving

A close-up of one of her projects

Some of her pieces are framed
All photos of Heather's crafts via L.A. in Bloom

I am beginning to think I need to start small; how cute is this knitted cover for a hot water bottle

Photo via here

And this tea cosy makes me smile, it might just be the perfect project to begin with

Photo via here

Tell me, what crafts or projects do you like to work on now that the weather is getting cooler and we are all staying home more? And do they bring a peaceful smile to your face?

I want to thank all of my blogging friends who expressed their support and condolences about my mother. It meant the world to me.